Today has been another almost day long battle with this piece of crap New Holland chopper. But I've finally found what most, but not all our problem has been. I found the rotary knives that cut the corn off were adjusted wrong. Got it adjusted & tightened as tight as I could get it, then I took over chopping for a while. Chopped perfect for 4 loads, then started jamming with grass again. Got out & checked, and yep, the bolt loosened that held the offending knife. So I bring the tractor & chopper back to the shop & remove the knife. The plate the knife bolts to is cracked all the way around, just floating on it's hub, but not to where it can come off. I pressed it tight together & welded with 7018 on both sides, as it was only welded on one side. I called it a day on the chopper, as now I have to milk tonight. Another 13+ hour day of battle. If when I bolt up the blade I find it is true after welding, then I'll red Loctite the bolt & put the torque to it. Then once we resume chopping Monday, I'll just take my long strongarm with 15/16" socket, and just keep checking to see it stays tight. I'm gonna be writing me a letter to New Holland to tell them what I think about this 790 chopper, and it won't be pretty, but it will be honest & to the point. Our old New Holland was way better than this one, and we spent like 25 grand thinking it would make life easier for us...........HA HA!

Finished milking. Well guys, I now broke the 200lb threshold.... I tip the scale at 198 ! In the last month or so I've lost about 17 pounds. I have been working like a dog in this sweltering weather, but at least something good has come of it.

Something is bugging me about how Dad had shimmed this cutter blade opposite as it should be. I'm taking the shields off in the morning to get a look at the top side of this shaft. Dad can make mistakes, but this time it makes no sense he would have done that. For whatever reason, I think the shaft has come out of place & is up too high, maybe it's cap end riding on top of the top gear off it's spline. This would explain why he placed the shims where he did. They would adjust it right like that if the shaft was down further. Thinking while milking made this occur to me, so tomorrow I investigate further. I think I'll pull the chopper into my yard under a shade tree though. Hot as heck, and NO shade at the shop, and inside the old shop is way too hot as well.

Sounds like a New Holland company rep needs to make a visit and offer compensation of some sort! Makes no sense for a guy to go through all that work and frustration with a new machine!! Hope you can get some cooling breezes under that shade tree tomorrow. Good luck with your repairs.

Never ran one of those, But I have heard that engine screaming at a show I've been to. If I remember correctly it was an Oliver 990??

That's right Bill. The Super 99 is the first Oliver tractor to get a Detroit in it. And Super 99 was also sold as a Massey 98 for a couple years when Massey lost a manufacturing plant due to a fire if I remember correctly.

A few years back my father inlaw got tired of always wrenching on his chopper. Almost every day of chopping brought a new issue. So he parked it behind the shed and got a custom crew in. They would do in 3/4 day what used to take him a week and a half to do. The only bad part about it he said was the day the bill showed up, they don't work cheap.

No way I can afford money wise to hire a chop crew. Mentally I could afford it! After doing more poking around, it seems the shaft is in proper orientation, so I guess Maybe Dad placed the shims below as just a place to "park" them when he did adjustment???

In a few minutes I'll bolt the cutter wheel on & see if it's true or not. If it isn't, then I'll have to call my dealer before noon to see if they have a new hub. Man this chopper was cruising till the cutter wheel bolt loosened yesterday.

Well, the wheel wasn't true, but not much off, so it is shimmed under 3 of the 6 bolts & running true now. After a GOOD cleaning of the internal shaft threads & the bolt, I have the red Loctite on so it will have 2 days to cure, with 24hrs all that is needed. A new hub isn't as expensive as I figured, $148, but can't be ordered until Tuesday, and earliest to come in would be Thursday. So hopefully the repairs will hold at least till then. Rain coming tonight & tomorrow, so put the chopper away in the shed.

Now to go drag the John Deere F935 front mower in so I can repair the drive shaft when I get to it. I may look at converting it to a universal joint instead of the rubber "isolator" as JD calls it. The end at the hydro unit has a universal joint, so why not the other end?? This is the 2nd isolator to go out in 5 years at over $100 each. The universal joint at the other end is still good as new.

Hope the chopper holds out for ya or at least until you can get a new hub. I get so fed up with these brand name companies that charge high prices for their goods but when put to the test their products don't hold up.

The earlier 790 choppers & 824 corn heads seemed to be good & solid units. But with time, thinning the metal & other forms of "cheapening down" to save money has weakened them down to a ridiculous point. So far we have had the main driveline PTO shaft total failure the first week we owned it, later the main transmission gearbox locked up, the cheapo electric clutch stay arm broke, which pulled the wire out of the very expensive header clutch (I dig into it & got wire soldered back), the sheet metal on the header is so thin it bends if you look at it hard, the feed roll U-joints have no bearings, and are just called "angle blocks", and wear out FAST, the feed roll arms broke completely in-two on us shortly after the main driveline failure, and now the broken weld on the circular knife hub. This is just what I remember off the top of my head.